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THE BOSTON
JEWISH
TIMES
Write the vision and make it plain upon tables
TELEPHONE (617) 442-9680
OCTOBER 18, 1990
VOL. XLVI, NO. 2
15 TISHRI 5751
25c
Kerry/ Rappaport On Mideast:
Distinction Without Difference
By Susan Bloch
BOSTON - For those
concerned with Israel,
Republican senatorial candidate
Jim Rappaport's positions on
the Middle East are impeccable.
But, contrary to widely-
circulated ads, so are incumbent
Democrat John Kerry's. Voters
looking for an issue which
separates the two, will have to
find it elsewhere.
Speaking personally or
through spokesmen, the
candidates agree far more
frequently than disagree. In fact,
they practically see eye-to-eye;
sometimes their people even use
the same terminology.
Both Rappaport and Kerry
maintain they support President
Bush and his conduct of the
Persian Gulf crisis.
Where they parted company is
over whether Senator Kerry
somehow tied the Iraqi
occupation of Kuwait to Israeli
occupation of the West Bank
and Gaza in an August interview
in The Boston Globe.
If Senator Kerry even
remotely entertained the idea of
linking the two issues in August,
he does not today. Ironically,
Prsident Bush, who originally
dismissed the notion, hinted at
linkage in his UN address.
"I have consistently supported
President Bush," Senator Kerry
said in a televised debate last
week. "I have the same position,
there is no linkage
whatsoever." The senator
maintains his position is to allow
Saddam Hussein a diplomatic
retreat.
Dangerous 'inner thinking,'
said Gerry Lange, Mr.
Rappaport's political advisor.
"To suggest concessions, either
before or after withdrawal, to
link the West Bank and Kuwait,
offers Saddam hope and sets an
exceedingly dangerous preced-
ent." Speaking for his candidate,
Mr. Lange said that now, after
being confronted with his
remarks, Senator Kerry is trying
to create 'wiggle room' for
himself, just as he wants to leave
'wiggle room' for Saddam.
The Senator, a member of the
Foreign Relations Gommittee,
believes in exploring every
diplomatic avenue before going
to war, he said in the debate.
"We must stay the course," he
said. "There is no time
limitation" on exploring
options. By enrolling the
Security Council alongside the
U.S., "we have made the UN a
working entity." Through the
UN and its sanctions a peaceful
solution might be attainable,
Mr. Kerry said.
Both men say they support the
President. Yet, the two are closer
in thinking to each other than to
Mr. Bush. Both disagree with the
administration on the proposed
$20 billion Saudi arms sale; the
U.S. sponsorship of last week's
anti-Israel UN resolution;
Secretary of State James Baker's
harsh letter to the Israelis in
which he practically equates
Prime Minister Shamir with
Saddam Hussein; and the
concept of an international
peace conference, which the
administration recently
reintroduced.
Last-week's U.S.-initiated
Security Council resolution
against Israel drew condemna-
tion from both candidates at the
televised debate. "The UN
resolution was unfortunate,"
Senator Kerry said. "The
difficulty we face is that we are
allied (in the Gulf) with nations
at war with Israel. For the
United States to begin the
process of condemnation of our
one ally is a dangerous and
slippery road. We must keep the
focus on Saddam Hussein and
not put Israel in the middle."
Dick McCall, foreign policy
advisor to Senator Kerry, later
added that the Senator felt the
UN resolution did not address
the Palestinian role in
precipitating the violence at the
Temple Mount. The UN applied
a "double standard," he said, by
ignoring the right of worshippers
to worship.
Mr. Rappaport also felt the
U.S. erred. The incident which
prompted the Israeli police
reaction that resulted in the
death of 21 Palestinians began
with a shower of rocks on
innocent people and escalated
into tragic events, he said. "I
would not have supported the
UN vote. I don't believe a
complex situation can be
resolved by a simple political
maneuver." He stated he would
have preferred some "quiet
diplomacy."
The spokesmen for both
candidates had no problem
disagreeing with Secretary of
State Baker, who wrote Israeli
Prime Minister Shamir: "If
Israel rejects the Security
Council decision there will be
some who will compare you,
even though it is not justified, to
Saddam Hussein and his
rejection of Security Council
decisions."
Mr. Lange called the
statement "moral garbage,"
adding that placing the Israeli
Prime Minister and the Iraqi
leader in the same sentence is
"offensive."
Mr. McCall was equally
dismayed. "Why raise the issue if
it isn't justified?" he asked
rhetorically. "If this is to keep
See Difference page 8
Israel Angered By UN Resolution
THE SECURITY COUNCIL,
REAFFIRMING that a just and
lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli
conflict must be based on its
Resolution 242 (1967) and 338 (1973)
through an active negotiating process
which takes into account the right to
security for all states in the region,
including Israel, as well as the
legitimate political rights of the
Palestinian people,...
1. EXPRESSES alarm at the
violence which took place on Oct. 8 at
Haram al-Sharif and other holy
places of Jerusalem resulting in over
20 Palestinian deaths and the injury
of more than 150 people, including
Palestinian civilians and innocent
worshipers;
2. CONDEMNS especially the acts
of violence committed by the Israeli
security forces resulting in injuries
and loss of human life;
3. CALLS upon Israel, the
occupying power to abide
scrupulously by its legal obligations
and responsibilities under the Fourth
Geneva Convention, which is
applicable to all the territories
occupied by Israel since 1967;
4. REQUESTS, in connection with
the decision of the Secretary General
to send a mission to the region, which
the Council welcomes, that he submit
a report before the end of October
1990 containing his findings and
conclusions and that he use as
appropriate all of the resources of the
United Nations in the region in
carrying out the mission.
By Susan Bloch
The Bush administration has
the distinction of being the only
American administration to
initiate resolutions censuring
Israel in the Security Council of
the United Nations; a distinction
it apparently enjoys, having
exercised the option twice this
past year. The first resolution,
early in 1990, condemned Israel
for settling Soviet Jews in the
occupied territories. This week,
the U.S. moved to condemn
Israel's response to the
Palestinian-inspired violence at
the Temple Mount which left 21
Palestinians dead.
Previous American govern-
ments have voted to condemn
Israel twice in the past: once
upon the invasion of Lebanon in
1982, and once for the bombing
of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at
Osirak in 1981.
Israel and the American
Jewish community reacted with
shock to the latest United States
move in the UN and Secretary of
State James Baker's follow up
comments, which could only be
construed as offensive, with no
See UN page 8
Intermarriage Study Urges Conversions
By Samuel Seidner
No one knows the precise
figure, but the rate of Jewish
intermarriage in America today
is "between 25 and 50 percent."
The figure is higher for couples
married in the 1980s and the rate
is accelerating. Brandeis
University this week released the
results of an extensive study that
shows when Jews intermarry, a
conversion to Judaism has a
sigficant impact on the quality of
the couple's Jewish life,
including the religious education
of children, observance of
Jewish ritual, visits to Israel,
synagogue membership and
invovlement in Jewish
communal affairs.
The study focused on eight
communities and examined
inmarried, mixed-married and
conversionary families. Data
from 8,387 married households
were examined. The communi-
ties were: Baltimore, Boston;
Cleveland; Dallas; Essex-
Morris, NJ; Rhode Island; San
Francisco; and Worcester.
In mixed marriages, where
one mate was not born Jewish
and has not converted, only
about 50 percent provide their
�children, ages 10-13, with any
kind of Jewish education. This
compares to 90 percent of
inmarried and conversionary
couples.
Surprisingly few mixed
marriages involve a conversion,
the study reveals; and the
number has dwindled even
further in the 1980s. For
example, in Boston, only 7
percent of mixed marriages were
conversionary. At the same time,
the study shows that about one-
third of married Jews in Boston,
under the age of 44, are
intermarried.
Nationally, according to the
study, 29 percent of Jewish
families are intermarried.
See Study page 7
Saddam May Withdraw If
He Sees U.S. Is Serious
Says Mideast Expert
By Samuel Seidner
Iraq's President Saddam
Hussein will withdraw from
:�:�; Kuwait if he becomes
:�; convinced the United States
S: seriously intends to wage war.
M Otherwise a prolonged
�:�:� stalemate lies ahead, says
:'�: Laurie Mylroie, Assistant
;� Professor of Government at
:�:�: Harvard University.
:�:� Prof. Mylroie's analysis of
;� Iraq in the Boston Jewish
>�: Times on May 3,1990, stated
�:�: that internal unrest, not
�:�: ambition, explains Saddam's
X; bellicose postures and his
:�:� inflammatory words towards
Israel and others. Saddam
Hussein had no intention of
:� attacking Israel, she said.
::j: Prof. Mylroie hinted, perhaps
:�: the first time such a prediction
�:�: appeared in print, that an
|:j: Iraqi invasion of Kuwait or
the Arab Emirates was im-
possible. �:�
Earlier this month, the New �:�
York Times suggested that �:�
Prof. Mylroie, who travels '�<
extensively in the Middle :�:
East, had acted as a covert :�:
contact between Iraq and x
Israel and hence knew that x
Iraq would not attack Israel �:�
depsite the belligerent words. �:�
She denies she acted on behalf �
of either country, but says she :�:
was "aware of contacts" :�:
between Israel and Iraq. If x
such contacts were taking �:�
place, she reasoned, it's �:�
unlikely Saddam meant it x
when he said, "We will make x
the fire eat up half of Israel." :�:
Prof. Mylroie's new book :�:
Saddam Hussein and the :�:
Crisis in the Gulf (Times *
Books/Random House) �:�
arrives in bookstores this �:�
week. x

User has an obligation to determine copyright or other use restrictions prior to publication or distribution. Please contact the archives at reference@ajhsboston.org or 617-226-1245 for more information.

THE BOSTON
JEWISH
TIMES
Write the vision and make it plain upon tables
TELEPHONE (617) 442-9680
OCTOBER 18, 1990
VOL. XLVI, NO. 2
15 TISHRI 5751
25c
Kerry/ Rappaport On Mideast:
Distinction Without Difference
By Susan Bloch
BOSTON - For those
concerned with Israel,
Republican senatorial candidate
Jim Rappaport's positions on
the Middle East are impeccable.
But, contrary to widely-
circulated ads, so are incumbent
Democrat John Kerry's. Voters
looking for an issue which
separates the two, will have to
find it elsewhere.
Speaking personally or
through spokesmen, the
candidates agree far more
frequently than disagree. In fact,
they practically see eye-to-eye;
sometimes their people even use
the same terminology.
Both Rappaport and Kerry
maintain they support President
Bush and his conduct of the
Persian Gulf crisis.
Where they parted company is
over whether Senator Kerry
somehow tied the Iraqi
occupation of Kuwait to Israeli
occupation of the West Bank
and Gaza in an August interview
in The Boston Globe.
If Senator Kerry even
remotely entertained the idea of
linking the two issues in August,
he does not today. Ironically,
Prsident Bush, who originally
dismissed the notion, hinted at
linkage in his UN address.
"I have consistently supported
President Bush," Senator Kerry
said in a televised debate last
week. "I have the same position,
there is no linkage
whatsoever." The senator
maintains his position is to allow
Saddam Hussein a diplomatic
retreat.
Dangerous 'inner thinking,'
said Gerry Lange, Mr.
Rappaport's political advisor.
"To suggest concessions, either
before or after withdrawal, to
link the West Bank and Kuwait,
offers Saddam hope and sets an
exceedingly dangerous preced-
ent." Speaking for his candidate,
Mr. Lange said that now, after
being confronted with his
remarks, Senator Kerry is trying
to create 'wiggle room' for
himself, just as he wants to leave
'wiggle room' for Saddam.
The Senator, a member of the
Foreign Relations Gommittee,
believes in exploring every
diplomatic avenue before going
to war, he said in the debate.
"We must stay the course," he
said. "There is no time
limitation" on exploring
options. By enrolling the
Security Council alongside the
U.S., "we have made the UN a
working entity." Through the
UN and its sanctions a peaceful
solution might be attainable,
Mr. Kerry said.
Both men say they support the
President. Yet, the two are closer
in thinking to each other than to
Mr. Bush. Both disagree with the
administration on the proposed
$20 billion Saudi arms sale; the
U.S. sponsorship of last week's
anti-Israel UN resolution;
Secretary of State James Baker's
harsh letter to the Israelis in
which he practically equates
Prime Minister Shamir with
Saddam Hussein; and the
concept of an international
peace conference, which the
administration recently
reintroduced.
Last-week's U.S.-initiated
Security Council resolution
against Israel drew condemna-
tion from both candidates at the
televised debate. "The UN
resolution was unfortunate,"
Senator Kerry said. "The
difficulty we face is that we are
allied (in the Gulf) with nations
at war with Israel. For the
United States to begin the
process of condemnation of our
one ally is a dangerous and
slippery road. We must keep the
focus on Saddam Hussein and
not put Israel in the middle."
Dick McCall, foreign policy
advisor to Senator Kerry, later
added that the Senator felt the
UN resolution did not address
the Palestinian role in
precipitating the violence at the
Temple Mount. The UN applied
a "double standard," he said, by
ignoring the right of worshippers
to worship.
Mr. Rappaport also felt the
U.S. erred. The incident which
prompted the Israeli police
reaction that resulted in the
death of 21 Palestinians began
with a shower of rocks on
innocent people and escalated
into tragic events, he said. "I
would not have supported the
UN vote. I don't believe a
complex situation can be
resolved by a simple political
maneuver." He stated he would
have preferred some "quiet
diplomacy."
The spokesmen for both
candidates had no problem
disagreeing with Secretary of
State Baker, who wrote Israeli
Prime Minister Shamir: "If
Israel rejects the Security
Council decision there will be
some who will compare you,
even though it is not justified, to
Saddam Hussein and his
rejection of Security Council
decisions."
Mr. Lange called the
statement "moral garbage,"
adding that placing the Israeli
Prime Minister and the Iraqi
leader in the same sentence is
"offensive."
Mr. McCall was equally
dismayed. "Why raise the issue if
it isn't justified?" he asked
rhetorically. "If this is to keep
See Difference page 8
Israel Angered By UN Resolution
THE SECURITY COUNCIL,
REAFFIRMING that a just and
lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli
conflict must be based on its
Resolution 242 (1967) and 338 (1973)
through an active negotiating process
which takes into account the right to
security for all states in the region,
including Israel, as well as the
legitimate political rights of the
Palestinian people,...
1. EXPRESSES alarm at the
violence which took place on Oct. 8 at
Haram al-Sharif and other holy
places of Jerusalem resulting in over
20 Palestinian deaths and the injury
of more than 150 people, including
Palestinian civilians and innocent
worshipers;
2. CONDEMNS especially the acts
of violence committed by the Israeli
security forces resulting in injuries
and loss of human life;
3. CALLS upon Israel, the
occupying power to abide
scrupulously by its legal obligations
and responsibilities under the Fourth
Geneva Convention, which is
applicable to all the territories
occupied by Israel since 1967;
4. REQUESTS, in connection with
the decision of the Secretary General
to send a mission to the region, which
the Council welcomes, that he submit
a report before the end of October
1990 containing his findings and
conclusions and that he use as
appropriate all of the resources of the
United Nations in the region in
carrying out the mission.
By Susan Bloch
The Bush administration has
the distinction of being the only
American administration to
initiate resolutions censuring
Israel in the Security Council of
the United Nations; a distinction
it apparently enjoys, having
exercised the option twice this
past year. The first resolution,
early in 1990, condemned Israel
for settling Soviet Jews in the
occupied territories. This week,
the U.S. moved to condemn
Israel's response to the
Palestinian-inspired violence at
the Temple Mount which left 21
Palestinians dead.
Previous American govern-
ments have voted to condemn
Israel twice in the past: once
upon the invasion of Lebanon in
1982, and once for the bombing
of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at
Osirak in 1981.
Israel and the American
Jewish community reacted with
shock to the latest United States
move in the UN and Secretary of
State James Baker's follow up
comments, which could only be
construed as offensive, with no
See UN page 8
Intermarriage Study Urges Conversions
By Samuel Seidner
No one knows the precise
figure, but the rate of Jewish
intermarriage in America today
is "between 25 and 50 percent."
The figure is higher for couples
married in the 1980s and the rate
is accelerating. Brandeis
University this week released the
results of an extensive study that
shows when Jews intermarry, a
conversion to Judaism has a
sigficant impact on the quality of
the couple's Jewish life,
including the religious education
of children, observance of
Jewish ritual, visits to Israel,
synagogue membership and
invovlement in Jewish
communal affairs.
The study focused on eight
communities and examined
inmarried, mixed-married and
conversionary families. Data
from 8,387 married households
were examined. The communi-
ties were: Baltimore, Boston;
Cleveland; Dallas; Essex-
Morris, NJ; Rhode Island; San
Francisco; and Worcester.
In mixed marriages, where
one mate was not born Jewish
and has not converted, only
about 50 percent provide their
�children, ages 10-13, with any
kind of Jewish education. This
compares to 90 percent of
inmarried and conversionary
couples.
Surprisingly few mixed
marriages involve a conversion,
the study reveals; and the
number has dwindled even
further in the 1980s. For
example, in Boston, only 7
percent of mixed marriages were
conversionary. At the same time,
the study shows that about one-
third of married Jews in Boston,
under the age of 44, are
intermarried.
Nationally, according to the
study, 29 percent of Jewish
families are intermarried.
See Study page 7
Saddam May Withdraw If
He Sees U.S. Is Serious
Says Mideast Expert
By Samuel Seidner
Iraq's President Saddam
Hussein will withdraw from
:�:�; Kuwait if he becomes
:�; convinced the United States
S: seriously intends to wage war.
M Otherwise a prolonged
�:�:� stalemate lies ahead, says
:'�: Laurie Mylroie, Assistant
;� Professor of Government at
:�:�: Harvard University.
:�:� Prof. Mylroie's analysis of
;� Iraq in the Boston Jewish
>�: Times on May 3,1990, stated
�:�: that internal unrest, not
�:�: ambition, explains Saddam's
X; bellicose postures and his
:�:� inflammatory words towards
Israel and others. Saddam
Hussein had no intention of
:� attacking Israel, she said.
::j: Prof. Mylroie hinted, perhaps
:�: the first time such a prediction
�:�: appeared in print, that an
|:j: Iraqi invasion of Kuwait or
the Arab Emirates was im-
possible. �:�
Earlier this month, the New �:�
York Times suggested that �:�
Prof. Mylroie, who travels '�<
extensively in the Middle :�:
East, had acted as a covert :�:
contact between Iraq and x
Israel and hence knew that x
Iraq would not attack Israel �:�
depsite the belligerent words. �:�
She denies she acted on behalf �
of either country, but says she :�:
was "aware of contacts" :�:
between Israel and Iraq. If x
such contacts were taking �:�
place, she reasoned, it's �:�
unlikely Saddam meant it x
when he said, "We will make x
the fire eat up half of Israel." :�:
Prof. Mylroie's new book :�:
Saddam Hussein and the :�:
Crisis in the Gulf (Times *
Books/Random House) �:�
arrives in bookstores this �:�
week. x